Manatee County teachers, aids receive raises

It might only be three-quarters of 1%, but teachers in the Manatee County School District will receive a pay raise as the result of a tentative agreement reached last week by the school district and the Manatee Education Association (MEA).

Pat Barber, the president of MEA, said it will be the first across-the-board raise in seven years, if approved.

"Its been many years since we've been able to say that every teacher will receive a raise," Barber said. "It's small, but it's something."

Teachers in the Manatee County School District have experienced a salary roller coaster of increases and decreases since 2008, when the district first cut teacher salaries by 1%.

"I felt it myself when that happened," Barber said. "It's a very hard thing to do. No other school district in our state has had their salaries cut. Other districts made temporary cuts, but we actually had pay cuts. Our employees deserve better than that."

School board members and the MEA must first ratify the agreement before teachers start to see the boost on paychecks. The school district hasn't set a date to approve the agreement, which is retroactive to July 1, 2015.

District officials hope teachers will start seeing their pay increases on paychecks by mid-December.

The tentative agreement also would provide teachers with extra salary for reaching certain milestones. A teacher who returns for a 16th year of service would get an additional $1,800. A teacher coming back for a 26th year would get an extra $3,300 added to the base salary.

"We wanted to especially recognize teachers for longevity," Vogel said.

Also in the tentative agreement, paraprofessionals, such as teacher aides, teacher assistants and other individuals who provide support to teachers, would receive a 73 cents per hour raise.

Returning paraprofessionals will receive a $300 bonus.

"Paraprofessionals haven't had their step increase for a number of years," Barber said. "Steps are recognition that translate into money, which is the ultimate recognition for your work. Money is better than a certificate, or in our case an apple."

The district is putting $4.9 million toward healthcare costs for the district's Health Insurance Fund as well. The money comes from the school district's general operating fund as part of its fiscal budget.

 "For more than seven years, the district has had challenges with health insurance costs, which are skyrocketing," Vogel said. "A priority of the board and superintendent this year was that we do everything we could so the district's employees didn't have to pay increased premiums and have reduced benefits."

Starting salaries of teachers in Manatee County as of the 2014-2015 school year are $38,000. Teachers with masters and doctorate degrees receive higher starting salaries.

Teachers in Sarasota County schools start at $39,783, according to the instructional salary spreadsheet on the School Board of Sarasota County's website.

"It's important for people to know, that these raises don't catch employees up with where they were before 2008," Barber said. "We are still behind other districts in what we're paying our teachers, but we're moving in the right direction."

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].